The Difference Between Hotel & Hostel?...One little 's'!

That one little s can represent so much though…

Social – In hostels, you’d need to try pretty hard to keep to yourself. In hotels, you’re really required to make an effort if you want to interact with other guests. Hostel culture is a social culture, and great hostels embrace this with well thought out common areas & shared facilities, activities & events.

Save – Save so much money and stretch your budget further by embracing hostels over hotels & other accommodations. Hostelculture.com is cheaper than other booking sites & gives you 5% off all marked prices upon booking, just because! You’re welcome.

Style – Hostels have upped the game in the style department and are no longer no-frills ’second-rate hotels’. While hotels are often inherently stylish, they tend to play within conventional rules. Hostels allow themselves much more freedom of expression when it comes to quirk & funky décor. With choices including ‘boutique’ & ‘design’ hostels, they’re not just ‘hostels’ anymore.

Staff – Hostel staff are a special breed. There’s not many hotels where the receptionists happily check you in, and then happily get shit-face with you after their shift. Consummate professionals though they are, you can nearly always rely on hostel staff to play an important part in your hostel & travel experience if you so choose; the ‘guest and staff’ labels in a hostel tend not to over-ride the fact that we’re all just people.

Sexy-time - And with all this socialising, sharing, sociable staff, and sleeping in style it’s not uncommon for travel romances to blossom in hostels. Hey, it’s a politer ‘s’ to use than shagging!

See more – While hotels are often happy to recommend local activities, give you a flyer or sell you a ticket, hostels usually make accessing local culture & experiences a real part of their mission, organising events & activities like pub crawls & free tours, often starting from their own reception – fun ways to see more & get unique insight to local life.

Swap – Many hostels allow you to swap some hours working in the hostel for your stay, instead of paying for your bed. Handy when you arrive for a couple of days and still haven’t left a month later!

So, when you’re seeking a stay with substance, shenanigans & something special, shake it up a little and stay in hostels. Celebrate the s!

Book great hostels worldwide with Hostelculture.com, the cheapest hostel booking website with 5% discount applied to seen rates at the point of booking.

Written by Ray, in Sweden, while listening to Irma Thomas, The Animals, Neil Young, and the Spice Girls (I'm not ashamed).